Mo. Senate mulls voter identification laws again

Mo. Senate mulls voter identification laws again

January 27th, 2014 in News

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri Senate committee is considering legislation to require voters to show photo identification at polling places, amid warnings from the state's top elections official that 220,000 people would be unable to vote if the bill passed.

Democratic Secretary of State Jason Kander said Monday that 150,000 registered voters currently don't have a government-issued ID that would satisfy the measure's requirements. He says an additional 70,000 voters have expired licenses.

Sponsoring Sen. Will Kraus, a Lee's Summit Republican, told colleagues at Monday's hearing that the bill is necessary to preserve the integrity of elections. His legislation would not apply to people born before 1941.

Previous attempts to require photo identification from voters have been struck down by courts or vetoed by the governor.